Kyleigh's Feet

Kyleigh:  "Mommy, somebody put my toes on the wrong feet!"

Mommy:  "Oh, yeah?  I wonder who did that?"

Kyleigh:  "God, I guess."

Mommy:  "What toes are on wrong feet?"

Kyleigh:  "My big ones."

Love her :)

Justice

“He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart.”
Unknown

I was cleaning the bathroom Friday evening. When cleaning the tub or bathing the dogs, I always remove all the shampoo, conditioner, soap, cups, etc. before beginning. I went to the kitchen to grab the tub cleaner and when I returned to the bathroom this is what I found.


Justice. In the tub.  Waiting for a bath.  He loves baths. He wanted a bath. He loves to swim. He is an amazing swimmer. I really don't even know where to begin about Justice. He slobbers. Alot. He sheds. Alot. He runs through screen doors each chance he gets. He greets us with a shoe in his mouth each time we come home but never chews them. Never has. He sneaks tennis balls into the house and chews the life out of them while watching us and wondering when we are going to "catch him." I love this dog yet I hate to clean up after him. He slobbers. Alot. He sheds. Alot. Oh yeah, I already said that. Nevertheless, I love this dog. He is a daddy's boy and is very loyal as such.

Justice has chronic ear infections. A few weeks ago, Justice got another ear infection. After three days of treatment he did not get better and actually took a turn for the worse. We noticed that he was not eating or drinking and he could no longer hear us. The once high alert dog that stood at attention at the drop of of a pen could no longer hear. I cried. We took Justice to the vet. After several tests, it has been determined that Justice has a "large" heart murmur and his kidneys are indicative of renal failure. The likelihood that he will regain his hearing is very slim. The heart murmur will be the likely cause of his death in what seems to be the not too distant future.

My heart breaks for this news. My children love Justice. Justice has been a part of the family before either child was born. The sad truth is that Justice does not have many days left. It could be tomorrow or it could be a year from now. Not likely longer. I love on him a lot. I still talk to him even though he can't hear me. He has to be monitored closely when off the leash as he cannot hear the command to come back. He loves to run. He loves to chase the tennis ball.

As I type this, I am watching Justice as he lies beside me and looks up at me every once in a while to make sure I haven't left the room. Justice makes me smile and I am glad I had a chance to love Justice. He has brought such great joy to our lives and our children's lives. In some strange way, I will miss cleaning up after him.  Such a good dog.

I Am Back

I will be attempting to blog again.  I will not make any promises as to how much I will blog.  While studying for the CPA exam, blogging did not rank as a priority when time seemed so precious.  I missed it.  So here it goes.

Percentage Complete

I received the results for the business section of the CPA exam. I sat for the exam in January. I passed it! I am still waiting on the results from the Auditing section which I sat for at the same time as the Business section. I have two more sections (Regulation, otherwise known as tax law, and Financial) to sit for sometime this year. Hopefully sooner than later, but I am not rushing :)

I am relieved to hear this news as I left the test thinking, "If I passed that, a miracle has occurred." I really did not feel confident about the Business section of the exam.

I am still studying as much as possible, but right now with Matt in school every evening, Brayden playing basketball, Kyleigh dancing, and a full time job as mother and wife as well as a full time day job, studying is very slow. I will update the blog as I get results.

Thank you to everyone who helps me and supports me. Whether it is my mom who helps with my kids, my husband who understands sooooo much, my kids who frighteningly enough like when I study, my awesome bosses who allow me to put my studies first, or friends who care enough to let me know they support me and give me encouraging words. It all helps keep me focused on my goal. It helps me realize that I can do this. And I am thankful.

M I A

I have been studying for my CPA exam. I have had to set some things aside while doing so. Some of the things I chose to sit aside are hobbies such as photography and blogging. And, that is why the blog has been stale, as well as the Flickr site. I miss it a lot and can not wait to begin devoting time to it again!

I am not one to want sympathy from others and so the next thing I say is not aimed at that. However, studying for this exam has been one BIG task. I have loved it and hated it all at the same time. I have learned so much about myself (and my profession) that it is amazing. I am glad I am doing this...

I will keep you all updated as the journey goes on. Thanks to all of you who support me. I could not do this without my awesome husband, understanding kids, devoted mom, sister, and in-laws, and bosses who truly want to see me succeed. Everyday I am amazed at the people I am surrounded by. I am blessed in many ways.

Life Lessons

The Daughter: "Guess what, daddy?"

Daddy: "What?"

The Daughter: "I have a girlfriend at school."

Daddy: "Oh, yeah. What's her name?"

The Daughter: "Meagan."

The Son: "No, no, no. Girls and girls, and boys and boys, they don't go together. You can't like the same. You will go to jail for that."

Daddy: "Son, who told you that you go to jail for that?"

The Son: "My friends...at school, dad. We talk about that stuff."

The Daughter is 4, the Son is 6, and the Dad is 32 (for only a couple more days).

Perspective

Each of us have our own perspectives. The way we interpret the world around us, the way we interpret ourselves.

My son lost a tooth the other day. This marks his fourth tooth, the fourth visit from the tooth fairy. The first two times were no big deal. She left what she left and he didn't seem thrilled or disappointed. Six months later, he learns a little more, grows a little more....and loses his third tooth. The tooth fairy came again and left a $5 under his pillow.

Well, I don't know about you, but the tooth fairy left me silver. And not usually multiple silver, but one piece! A quarter usually. A $5 bill! Wow, I thought, the tooth fairy must be a nice lady (or man)...

My son proceeds down the stairs the morning after he lost that third tooth and is BUMMED OUT...yes that is what I said, bummed out, over the $5 bill. Why wasn't it more?!? I thought to myself, "what an unappreciative little brat." No, as a parent I didn't say it to him like that, but we did discuss being appreciative for what you get instead of always wanting more. Sometimes, you get nothing...I explained to him that there were many children (and adults) in the world that dodn't even get clean drinking water. Water that he asks if he can pour out of a perfectly good bottle of water!!!

A few days later my son comes home from school, "Hey mom, I lost another tooth. At 9:31 this morning, I lost another tooth!"

Awesome, I thought. The tooth fairy will be leaving silver this time...yeah!

He proceeds to trot down the stairs the next day. "Mom, mom, mom, THE TOOTH FAIRY LEFT ME 6 QUARTERS!!! YIIIIIIPPPPPEEEEEEEE." (Extremely excited, 6 quarters were LOADS better than the $5 bill.)

The tooth fairy will be leaving 10 dimes next time.